CS celebrates Chinese New Year with community (with photos)
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, today (January 29), on the Chinese New Year's Day, wishes the country to thrive vigorously, for Hong Kong to have harmony and prosperity, and every success to the community. He paid a visit to the Lo Wu Control Point this morning to learn about the various arrangements and operations of relevant departments to cope with the increase in inbound and outbound passenger traffic during the Chinese New Year period. During the visit, he extended his New Year greetings to the staff on duty, and expressed his gratitude to them for performing their duties with dedication during the holidays. Along the way, he took the opportunity to extend his Chinese New Year greetings to the citizens and travellers he met.
Accompanied by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung; the Director of Immigration, Mr Benson Kwok; and the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Mr Chan Tsz-tat, Mr Chan inspected the Lo Wu Control Point and met the frontline staff of the Immigration Department (ImmD), the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) and the Hong Kong Police Force on duty. He learned about the arrangements and operation conditions for customs clearance, diverting passenger movements, public order maintenance, etc at the control point during the Chinese New Year period.
Mr Chan was pleased to note that the relevant government departments have been in close co-ordination and liaison with stakeholders of transport, tourism and other sectors for making good preparation for receiving visitors during the Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland, and ensuring the orderly operation of boundary control points. Relevant departments have minimised leave for frontline officers during the Chinese New Year period, to enable flexible deployment of manpower, and operation of additional counters and channels with a view to diverting passenger and vehicular flow. The Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by the Police, the ImmD, the C&ED, and other relevant departments; and the Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of the Transport Department will both operate 24 hours a dayduring the Golden Week, to closely monitor the situation of various control points and traffic conditions, and take prompt measures to ensure the smooth operation of various aspects in receiving visitors. Mr Chan expressed his heartfelt gratitude to colleagues of the Government and practitioners of various industries for their hard work during the Chinese New Year period.
Mr Chan also appealed to visitors arriving in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year holidays to plan ahead for their itineraries. He encouraged them to stay overnight after participating in various local celebratory activities for the Chinese New Year and to make reference to the ultimate guide to Chinese New Year in Hong Kong launched by the Hong Kong Tourism Board to fully enjoy the rich and diverse celebratory activities to be held across various districts in the city and experience Hong Kong's unique city charm. At the same time, he instructed relevant departments to collaborate with various stakeholders, including public transport operators, to strengthen information dissemination including the situation at various boundary control points, details of celebration events and transport arrangements to enable residents and visitors to plan their itineraries according to the latest situation.
On January 27, Mr Chan participated in year-end caring visits in 18 districts co-ordinated by the Home Affairs Department. He visited elderly singleton and elderly doubleton grassroots families living in Po Lam Estate, Tseung Kwan O, and distributed blessing bags to them to express the Government's heartfelt wishes. He engaged in warm exchanges with the residents to let them feel the care and support of the community. He also attended the Yau Tsim Mong Presents – The Year of The Snake: Countdown Celebration at the Yau Ma Tei Community Centre Rest Garden yesterday (January 28) to share with the public the joys and blessings of the festive season and welcome the Year of the Snake.
